Frozen
by PuffofLogic
Summary: What happens when Z gets bad news and is feeling forgotten? Mostly Z fic. A little JL, JV and CM. Please read and review. This Fanfiction is at last finished with a sequel in the works! THANKS!
1. Chapter 1

Corrine stood by her desk, organizing her text book by size, color and subject, as Josie rocked out on her air guitar, hopping from clean spot to clean spot.

"Josie, could your music be any louder?" Corrine yelled above the noise.

Josie stopped and looked at her, confused. "You want it louder? Fine by me." Before Corrine could protest, Josie jumped over the clothes she'd worn the day before and cranked up the volume to max.

"Josie!" Corrine tried to get her attention, to no avail. "Josie!" She was ready to yank out the plug when she noticed a blank piece of paper with her name on it sticking out from under a pile of Josie's various things where the room was divided. She went over and picked it up, searching her mind for what it might be. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. Josie noticed and turned off her music.

"Corrine, what's wrong?"

"Josie, I didn't finish my essay for English! I haven't even started yet!"

Josie just stood there. "Is that it? I haven't started yet either. It's not due for, like, another week anyway."

"Josie! It's due tomorrow! It's worth twenty percent of our semester grade! We have to start, now!"

"Cool it Corrine! English is out second to last class, there's plenty of time." Josie reasoned, trying to calm her friend. She moved to turn the music back on, but Corrine grabbed her arm, leading her out of the room, towards the library.

Marshall was in his room, designing a new poster for Magnet 360, while Lucas lay on his own bed reading a book titled: So, You Want to Contact Aliens.

Marshall held up two different posters and turned to Lucas. "Which one is better?"

"The one on the right." Lucas answered without looking up.

"Lucas, come on! I need your help! This poster has to be perfect!"

"Mmmm hmmm." Lucas agreed.

Marshall rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer. "It'll be great, you'll see. Z won't mind if I'm a little late for Science Club." He turned his head slightly toward Lucas. "You should get going though. Everyone's probably already waiting."

"Mmmm hmmm." Lucas assented without moving.

"Now, what if I bolded this, changed the color of this and moved this over there…" Marshall returned his attention to the computer.

Vaughn was running laps under the lowering sun. The first game of the season was in a week and he knew his team didn't have a chance. That is, of course, if he and his team didn't run drills and passes and plays until they were perfect, or at least good enough to win.

He puffed to a stop, checked his watch and grimaced. Science Club had already been going for ten minutes. By the time he took a shower and changed…it wouldn't be worth it. "They probably don't want me there anyway." He said aloud. He looked toward the school, took a swig of water from his bottle and continued running.

Professor Zachary sat in the science lab, alternately looking at the clock on the wall, to the door, to his watch, to the letter on his desk he wished he could forget.

Zachary had received the letter around noon and had spent the rest of the day in his office. The letter was a simple one, ironic considering the weight it carried.

It was from his mother's doctor stating, matter-of-fact, that a malignant tumor had been found in her brain and that her life was in danger if it was not removed. The letter went on to say that the surgery was scheduled for the day after next and they would do their best. It cautioned, however, there was only a forty-five percent chance of success.

Z buried his head in his hands before glancing at the small note that had accompanied the doctor's letter. It was from his mother and though he'd read it so many times he had it committed to memory, he re-read it again.

_My Dearest Noel, _

_I miss you terribly. I'm sorry to say it, but, I don't have much hope that this will work out. Please don't come, I couldn't bare for you to see me this way, and I know you're needed at that school. Remember, I love you and I always will. _

_Mom_

Noel felt tears coming but blinked them back and took a wavering breath.

He jerked suddenly in his seat as he heard a noise at the door. His worries forgotten, he looked forward to a scientific discussion with his five favorite, though he shouldn't admit it, students. He was disappointed, however, when it was just the janitor coming in to wipe the chalk boards clean.

Zachary deflated and opened his desk drawer to put the letter away.

"It's not as bad as it seems."

Noel was so sunken in his gloom, that he didn't realize it was one of the rare times when the janitor spoke. "It isn't?" He questioned, unbelieving, to his desk.

"There's always good in a situation."

The professor looked up in disbelief, but the janitor was already gone.

Noel sighed and glanced at the letter again. He picked it up and stuck it in his jacket pocket. He turned toward the clock one last time, decided no one was coming and sighed again. Unbeknown to him, a small purple spark jumped to his hand. Noel stood up and flicked off the lights as he went through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Strange Days, and I never will.

Sorry I haven't updated! I went to Washington DC for 4 days and have spent the last few recovering! Feel free to review. Kind of a filler chapter, but it's needed. P.S.- I made Madison's last name Lee. FYI.

Josie pulled the covers over her head and groaned as her alarm went off. She could hear Corrine already up and getting ready. They'd finally finished their essays at around one thirty in the morning. Josie had fallen asleep more than once.

"Come on Josie, you're going to be late!"

Josie groaned once more. "What else is new?"

"Josie, we missed Science Club yesterday, you can't be late for science _class_ too!"

"Why not?" Josie asked sleepily.

Corrine rolled her eyes and gathered up her books. "Fine, be late, but don't blame me when you get detention."

"Z wouldn't give me detention."

"Suit yourself." Corrine walked out.

Josie sighed and rolled out of bed with a thump.

An amazing eight minutes later, Josie rushed into the science lab and skidded to a stop when she saw Principal Durst.

"Miss Trent! You are late! I believe that makes three times. One week detention! Take your seat."

"Where's Professor Z?"

"I have already gone through that with the class. If you had been here, you would know. Now, sit down!"

Josie walked in slowly, ignoring the stares of her fellow classmates. She sat down next to Corrine as Durst continued the lesson.

"So, what's up with Z?" Josie asked Corrine in a whisper.

"I don't really know. Principal Durst said he just took a few days off."

"I'm going to ask her after class."

"Miss Baxter, Miss Trent, pay attention! There will be a test on this tomorrow if you don't listen."

Corrine blushed and hurriedly began writing things down in her notebook, as Josie returned the glared given by their peers.

"Now class, we're going back to the basics for a moment. Can anyone tell me, at what temperature, Fahrenheit, does water freeze into ice?" Durst looked around the room. Josie was copying notes from Corrine, Corrine was sitting up straight, with her hand in the air, Lucas was looking disinterestedly at his pencil, Marshall sat tapping his pencil on the table to the tune of his newest song, Vaughn was staring out the window, running football plays through his head, Madison was checking her fingernail polish, and Stuart…Stuart was sleeping. Perfect.

"Mr. Kubiak, would you be so kind as to inform the class the temperature at which water freezes?"

Stu sat up quickly and blearily raised his eyes to the principal. "Uhhh…is it eight?" At her continued stare he went on, "teen?" He waited a little longer, "hundred?"

Durst gave up, with her face masking the satisfaction, she said, "No, Mr. Kubiak, it is not eight-teen hundred degrees." She turned, "What about you Miss Lee?"

Madison looked up, smiled and said sweetly, "I'm sorry Principal Durst, I don't know. Professor Zachary never mentioned it to us. I'm sure you're much better qualified to teach us."

Durst blinked and smiled, "Well, thank you Miss Lee. I did work as a teacher here, you know, before I became principal. Unfortunately for you, I'll only be teaching this class for a few days."

She turned to face the room while Madison added to Cassie behind her back, "Like I care when water freezes." She rolled her eyes.

"Corrine, would you please tell the class at what temperature water freezes?"

"Thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit and zero degrees Celsius, but water with additives such as salt or even pollution can cause it to freeze at a higher or lower temperature. Altitude can also affect when water becomes ice." Corrine sat back with a smile on her face, pleased with herself.

"Thank you Corrine. That's correct. Now that the basics are covered; the human body is warm blooded, which means we generate our own heat, unlike reptiles and amphibians whose body temperature changes with the surrounding temperature. For example, if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out. If you put a frog in cool water and slowly turn up the heat to boiling temperature, the frog will simple die."

Madison shared a disgusted look with Cassie while many of the boys in the class sat up a little straighter at the prospect of carnage.

Durst noted this and said, "Fortunately, we don't have enough time for that particular experiment." The boys groaned and Durst continued.

"The human body regulates its temperature at around ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit. However, when you body is infected, that temperature can go higher. That is what we call a fever. A severe fever would be a temperature of one hundred-two degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Your body temperature can also go lower. This is called hypothermia. Hypothermia is severe when the body's temperature falls below ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit. Your—," Durst was interrupted as Lucas's pencil went flying across the room.

She turned to find him staring in horror at the floor where his pencil had landed. He slowly brought his gaze up to hers, then quickly looked down at the table.

"Mr. Randall, what is the meaning of this…Projectile?" Durst demanded in outrage.

"It…slipped." Lucas replied lamely.

"Well then, you can 'slip' right into detention after school today."

The bell rang and the class hurried out, save Josie and Corrine. Josie went straight up to Principal Durst who sat at Professor Zachary's desk to make an attempt to grade the class's papers.

"Now can you tell me where Professor Z is?"

Durst looked up, annoyed. "As I told the rest of the class, he has requested a few days off." She looked down at the papers, then back up again as she remembered. "He did ask me to tell you that the Science Club was to continue as usual."

Durst eyed them both. "You are to leave Professor Zachary alone. He asked for a vacation and I don't think he would appreciate you two delving into his personal life." She looked back down at the papers.

Josie's eyes lit up. "So he's still at the school?"

"Yes, of course." Durst realized what she'd said and hastened to add, "But you are not to disturb…" She trailed off as the door shut with a bang. Durst sighed and waited for the next class.


	3. Chapter 3

Finally! The Action Starts! Be excited! Warning for J/V fans. There is a J/L scene! READ AND REVIEW! Thank You for your support!

Professor Zachary was in his office drinking a cup of tea, when he saw some blurred color through his door window.

It was a blob of bright red and he grinned knowing that it was Josie. He also knew that he probably shouldn't have taken a vacation because, without his classes to distract him, he was teetering on the edge of depression. The sight of Josie sheered him considerably. Even if she'd just come to ask about the weather, or better yet, the science lesson, he looked forward to leaving his dejection behind.

Josie raised her hand to knock on the door to Professor Z's office.

"Josie!"

She turned in confusion, "Lucas?"

Lucas was running down the hall toward her. He skidded to a stop in front of her and took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Lucas, do you have enough air?" Josie asked rhetorically with a small laugh.

"Ha ha," Lucas said then continued hesitantly. "Ummm…I was wondering…if maybe…"

"Spit it out Lucas!"

He blushed, "Would you go to a movie with me tonight?" He quickly looked down at his feet.

Josie froze. "The movies?" she said slowly, "Tonight? Like on a…date?"

Lucas looked up gradually, realizing that Josie wasn't going to refuse him outright. "Maybe like on a date. If you want it to be. Sure. Date is fine." He stopped, suddenly realizing he was talking almost too fast to be intelligible.

"I guess a date is okay…what time is the movie?" Josie asked, a slight flush in her cheeks.

"Honestly not sure, I just kind of decided to ask. We can look up the time on my computer though. Come on." Lucas started down the hall.

Josie glanced at the office door then back to Lucas who was waving for her to come with him. "I can talk with Z later. Anyway, how often is Lucas going to have the courage to ask me out?" Josie reasoned quietly, and then followed Lucas down the hall.

In the office, Z let out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. Then he sighed. He was happy for Josie and Lucas, but still disappointed in the lost conversation. He glanced at the newspaper on his desk and saw that the movie was playing during the Science Club meeting.

Noel sighed again and got up to stretch. He fanned himself with the newspaper, frowned and walked over to the thermostat on the wall. He turned it down a little and walked back to his desk, picked up his tea and swirled it around in his cup as he looked at the pile of papers waiting patiently to be graded. He then became aware of his mother's note, sitting on the corner of his desk and sighed a little deeper and turned his gaze toward the kite hanging on his wall. He tilted his cup to take a drink, and tilted it a little farther. And a little farther, until something suddenly fell out of the cup, hit his nose on the way to the floor and slid a few feet on the tiles.

"Ahhh!" Z exclaimed rubbing his smarting nose and squinting his watering eyes. After a moment, he looked around the room. His gaze fell on a small brown cylinder lying on the floor. He cocked his head at it, confused, and slowly moved forward.

He knelt on the floor, wincing as his knees cracked, and looked a little closer. He slowly reached forward and picked up the cylinder.

Noel took his glasses off as he stood up. All of a sudden, something dripped off the block. He looked down to where it fell, and then looked back to the block in his hand. He put his glasses back on, swiped his index finger along the cylinder and tentatively put it to his tongue. His eye widened in surprise. Tea?

"Fascinating." He murmured. Noel glanced at the thermostat but he knew it wasn't near cold enough to spontaneously freeze his drink. In fact, it still seemed a little warm. He set his block of tea in the sink in the corner of his office, and then went to his desk and sat down.

Ideas ran through his head about how this could've happened. "Obviously, it froze, but what caused it? It's not cold enough in the room; it hasn't been sitting out that long." He paused. "Or has it?" He shook his head. "Even if it's been out long enough to cool off, it wouldn't have frozen. Besides," he reasoned remembering, "I swirled it around just before I tried to drink." He rubbed his nose in remembrance. "Then what could've caused this?"

The professor realized that this was going to take more tea and he reached for the pot on the far corner of his desk. He looked up as his hand connected with the side of the pot instead of the handle. He let out a small yelp of pain before realizing it hadn't hurt.

He looked more closely at the remaining tea, only to find that it too, had frozen solid.

Zachary sat back in his chair, staring at his hand. After a moment his eyes flashed around the room landing on a half empty water bottle.

"Alright Noel, you're a scientist. Work through this scientifically." He got up from his desk and began pacing. "First thing. Question: Why did the tea freeze? Hypothesis: The tea froze when I touched it. Supporting fact: the tea was liquid before I touched it. Prove hypothesis…" He turned slowly toward the water bottle, took a deep breath and walked toward it.

Z hesitantly touched his hand to the plastic bottle. Inside, there was a slight crackling sound, and the water solidified. He stepped back, looked to his hand, then back to the bottle. He grinned.

"Hypothesis Proven."

That's all for now! Reviews are always welcome! I update when I see new ones, keep that in mind!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks SO much for the reviews! It's what keeps me going and makes my day! I write all the faster knowing there's some one waiting for the story! Once again, Thanks! Without farther ado, let's continue!

Noel spent the next half hour experimenting with his newfound ability.

He went from freezing various liquids to spreading a thin layer of ice over his desk. From there, he chose a small plant and tried to freeze it without killing it; after a few failed attempts, his result was a very pretty frosted vine of ivy.

When he finally paused in his tests, Z looked around at the ice that layered most of the room. He was amazed that it wasn't melting; he was also more then a bit confused.

He walked over to the thermostat once more, slipping slightly on the icy floor, and tapped it with an index finger. Noel frowned; it was broken. The temperature read fifty-eight degrees but it felt more like eighty!

"That's odd." He mumbled; his brow furrowed. Zachary straightened and looked about the room once more.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Noel whirled around and stared through the door window. To his dismay, Principal Durst was waiting outside the door.

"Professor Zachary, may I have a word with you?"

Z looked in a panic to his ice covered office, then back to the door.

"Y-yes, just a moment!" Z glanced around his room frantically, trying to find a way to get rid of the ice. Finding nothing, he thought, _All right, if I made it, shouldn't I, logically, be able to clear it away as well? _

He slid over to his desk, put a hand on it, ignoring the chill and shut his eyes.

"Melt…_please_ melt…Come on…" He opened one eye and looked hesitantly to his desk. As he'd suspected, it remained ice covered. Noel sighed in disappointment.

"Professor Zachary, is everything alright?" Principal Durst called through the window.

"Yes, I'll be right with you!" Z gave up trying to defrost his office and moved toward the door. He took a deep breath, opened the door a crack, slipped through, and shut it quickly behind him.

"You, ah, wanted to see me?" He said in response to Durst's questioning look.

"Yes, but what were…," she shook her head slightly and decided it wasn't worth asking.

"I simply wanted to congratulate you. Mr. Pearson is please with Vaughn's improved grades and told—_asked_ me to thank you."

There was a pause while Z realized that nothing was wrong. He was so used to Principal Durst telling him she was going to evacuate the school, or wandering what the strange lights coming from his office were, that it seemed odd to hear something so mundane leave her mouth.

"That's it?" Professor Z blurted out, and then quickly continued, "Ah—I mean thank you, thank Mr. Pearson—please thank Mr. Pearson _for_ me." Z stumbled over his words.

Principal Durst looked at him worriedly, "Are you sure you're alright? You're dealing okay with… everything?"

Noel's face fell. In light of his discovery, he had completely forgotten about his mother's surgery the next day

Durst noticed and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Professor, I shouldn't have said anything."

In an effort to lighten the mood, she smiled and extended her hand. "Well, thank you again for helping Vaughn." She winked. "There could be a bonus for you this month Zachary."

Z nodded absently and shook her hand.

Suddenly, Durst pulled back with a gasp. "Professor Zachary! You hand is so cold, are you coming down with something?"

Z stared at his hand, puzzled, but realization soon spread across his face.

"Oh! No, I'm fine, really. I was just, ah…drinking a cold glass of water before you came!"

Durst clapped her hand together and rubbed them for warmth. She looked at Z and nodded slowly then turned and walked stiffly down the hall.

Z watched from his door and when he saw her turn a corner, he gave a sigh of relief and leaned back against the door.

"I really have to get better at excuses." He laughed to himself. "I should talk to Josie; she could give me a list."

Remembering his students, he glanced at his watch and his eyes widened in surprise. Science Club had started three minutes before! He grinned at the thought of their faces when he showed them his remarkable talent.

Z turned and walked down the hall, toward the Science Lab without another thought about his frosted office.

Professor Zachary stopped outside the science lab door and paused. He planned to walk in as usual, and then give them the news. Z grinned again as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to straighten it. He opened the door.

"Sorry I'm a little late…" Zachary trailed off as he took in the empty room before him. He sighed in dejection before remembering that Josie and Lucas were at a movie.

"Maybe their just a few minutes late. I was after all." Z told himself, but knowing Corrine, he didn't believe it.

He moved over to his desk. On it, he noticed, sat a folded piece of paper with Corrine's neat lettering spelling out '_Professor Z'_. Interested, Noel picked it up, unfolded it and began to read.

_Z, I took it upon myself to let you know where everyone is. (Because we both know, no one else would.)_

Z's mouth turned up at the corners in a slight smile.

_I'm tutoring students in math, Marshall's band ha a performance outside of school and Vaughn's team has extra practice to get ready for the game this weekend. Sorry we won't be there for the meeting but Josie and Lucas didn't have anything to do, they should be present._

_Corrine_

Z slowly put the letter down on his desk and walked toward the opposite end of the room. _I hope they all have fun. _He thought with a sad smile, _I guess my news will have to wait until tomorrow._

He brightened. _Yes, tomorrow will be fine. _He tried to convince himself. _Unless their all busy again, _a part of his mind said bitterly. Z was slightly surprised by this mental outburst but shook his head to clear it.

Noel sighed, took his glasses off rubbed them on his shirt to clean them, and then walked out the door with a lost look around the room.

That's all for now! Review for more! Tell me what you liked and disliked; how I could make it better. Anything! Hey, on another note, it might be a little early but I'm thinking about a sequel base mostly on Corrine with some more strange things happening. Does this have any support? I need to know now because it would change the ending of this one if I didn't! Let Me Know!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I had a point come up in one however. I made a mistake. Z final words in chapter three, "Hypothesis Proven" are incorrect. Hypotheses can't be proven, only supported. This was brought to my attention by Toreshi-san. Thank you. On another note, I had no requests to continue with a sequel. I'm not sure if it's too early but some one needs to let me know. Also, forgive me if I'm whining, reviews are nice, I love reviews, it means some one is reading. I will continue this story as long as some one is interested, but you need to let me know! If you reviewed the first chapter but no others, I don't know if you're still interested, or if you got bored and left! Please review so I know that I'm not just writing for my self! All right, thanks for listening to my ranting. All I hope for now is that you're actually reading this and not just skipping ahead for the chapter. Oh, right! The chapter! That's what I'm doing here! About the chapter, it's a bit shorter then the last few, I'm still working on the story, so be patient. I figure I'm about halfway through or so. This chapter would probably be considered a filler. Sorry! Okay, I'm going to stop the author's note right now, before it becomes longer then the Chapter. Thank you again! Let's continue!

Corrine was in the courtyard, studying when Josie walked purposely up, sat down on the bench the wrong way, and leaned back against the table. Josie turned to find Corrine staring at her.

"What?"

Corrine looked at her, slightly confused. "You look…different. What happened?"

"Happened? Nothing's happened." Josie said nonchalant.

Corrine gave her a look that said 'yeah, right'.

"All right! Lucas asked me out. Yesterday. We went to a movie."

"You went out with Lucas? I thought you and Vaughn…?"

Josie rolled her eyes. "Maybe we were …It was never official."

Corrine raised her eyebrows.

After a pause Josie said, "…All right! Maybe it was official…sort of…unofficially…"

"Unofficially official?" Corrine asked with an eyebrow still raised.

"Yeah, but that doesn't meant that I can't go to the movies with Lucas, does it?" Josie waited a moment, "Does it?"

"Have you told Vaughn?"

Josie shifted uncomfortably and looked away. "Not yet, but I haven't had the chance."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Marshall came bounding up to the table where they sat, and slid in beside Corrine.Without waiting for a reply, he launched into an excited account of the band's performance the night before. "It was great! The crowd loved us! We were perfect! Ohhh…it was phenomenal! It was beyond description!"

Josie smiled, "It looks like you going to make an effort though!"

Corrine laughed.

Marshall turned toward Corrine and continued relating the night's events, as Josie looked around the courtyard squinting against the sunlight. Her gaze landed on Lucas, who was in a heated chess match against Lefler.

Vaughn had once asked her how much nerd one kid could take. She had responded by asking him how much jock one kid could take. They'd agreed to disagree.

Vaughn…Josie's eyes moved unconsciously to the football field where Vaughn and his team were doing a drill. Josie had a flash of concern for him. He was so busy with school, football and the Science Club. Was it wearing him out? Corrine's question broke through her thoughts.

"Huh?"

Corrine rolled her eyes, "I said, how was Professor Z?"

"Z?"

"Josie, you went to see him yesterday. Was he okay?"

"Oh, yeah…" Josie scrunched up her face in an effort to remember, "Lucas asked me to go to the movies with him, and I…"

"Forgot?" Corrine filled in, then paused. "Wait, you didn't see him yesterday at all?"

"No, Lucas and I went to the movie."

"What about Science Club?"

"Oops, forgot about that too."

"So no one was at the meeting _again_?"

"Guess not." Realization dawned on Josie's face. "Poor Z! He's going to think we forgot about him!"

"Which _you_ did!"

Marshall had been half listening, being more interested in the fact that Lefler had picked up his chess board in a huff and stalked off, his friends following behind, suddenly turned to Josie.

"Hold on, Lucas asked you out?"

"Yes…I believe that has been mentioned…more then once."

"Oh," Marshall turned back to Lucas, who was grinning triumphantly at Lefler's receding back. "Wow. I didn't know he had it in him."

Me neither, thought Josie.

"Look, here he comes," Marshall pointed out, as Lucas made his way over to the group.

"Hey, guys, Josie, what's going on?"

"We were about to head over to Z's office." Corrine stated. "_Josie_ forgot to go see him yesterday."

Josie rolled her eyes but winced inside. "It wasn't quite like that, I was at his door when Lucas came up…but one thing led to another, and…" she trailed off, waiting for Corrine's inescapable addition.

"You forgot."

"Chillax guys! We'll all go see him now." Lucas grinned still energized by his victory over Lefler. "Come on!" He grabbed Josie by the arm and pulled her into the school, leaving Marshall to walk in with Corrine.

A/N: That's all for now. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE ABOVE AUTHOR'S NOTE, DO SO NOW! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: OH! I'm so excited! We're really getting into the story now! Pazza! Reviews always welcome!

Professor Z had been sitting quietly in his still ice-layered office, when he heard a quick rap on the door. Before he could protest, the door swung open to reveal Josie with Lucas following her. They steeped into the room, sliding slightly on the floor and looking around in disbelief. Marshall and Corrine were right behind them as Z hastily came around and shut the door behind them.

After a pause in which the students of the Science Club gathered their wits, Josie looked at Professor Z with a raised eyebrow. "So, what've you been up to?"

Z grinned at the looks on their faces; feeling better then he had in days, and shrugged, "Not too much."

Corrine turned to Z, "You did this?" At his nod, she continued, "But…how?" she demanded incredulously.

Lucas interrupted, "Need I remind you that we are standing in an office with a _wormhole_?" Corrine shot him a dirty look and Z broke in.

"I'm not sure, exactly, how it happens. I've been trying to figure it out for the past day or so." His voice slid into lecture mode and he began to pace, slipping slightly on the icy floor.

"My theory is that when I physically touch an object, its temperature is lowered to thirty-two degrees or even lower." He spun on his heel and paused with his index finger in the air. "However, it appears that the _way _it freezes seems to differ." He stopped at their blank looks. "For example, my desk has very little liquid, possibly none at all, yet I can spread a thin layer of ice over it."

The professor walked over to his desk and put the fingertips of his right hand on it. A short moment later a sheet of ice spread from his fingers toward the edges of the desk. The ice made its way around the various items on the desk, moving slowly at first then faster until it came to the corners. Professor Zachary removed his hand and the ice stopped suddenly.

Throughout this performance, Marshall had been staring with his mouth dropped open. Corrine's eyes had widened considerably, Lucas's had done the same. Josie had just stood there looking at her professor in disbelief.

"In the case of dry objects, my theory is that water vapor from the air condenses then collects on the surface of the aforementioned object, then its temperature is lowered. All this happens virtually instantaneously." Professor Zachary continued his explanation without looking up to mask his smile from his students.

"Now, in object with larger amounts of water already in them, such as a plant," Z walked over to a windowsill and grabbed one of the small potted plants and touched a finger to the uppermost leaf.

A frost quickly traveled down the length of the main stem and branched off along the thinner vines, up through the veins and across the face of every leap simultaneously.

The outcome was the green plant looking as though it had been dipped in diamonds. The overhead light and the light from the windows sparkled as it reflected off the small ice crystals.

"Z, it's beautiful" Corrine said softly.

The others could only nod in agreement.

Professor Z's smile widened as he continued his explanation. "Plants already have moisture in them so to ice it over; I don't need as much water from the air. The water is somehow pulled from the plant to the surface where its temperature is lowered."

Zachary set the potted plant carefully on one corner of his desk leaving behind white spots where his hand had touched.

Marshall shook his head in cheerful disbelief. "This is…unbelievable."

Josie looked to Professor Z, "Is this why you canceled your classes?"

Z's smile vanished. "N—no. Not exactly." He said heavily. His eyes darted unconsciously to his desk drawer where the doctor's letter and his mother's note resided.

The younger members of the Science Club noticed his sudden melancholy and shared a glance.

Corrine was the first to speak. "Is something wrong Z?"

It was the question he'd been dreading. Of course something was wrong and he wanted to tell them so and know he had their support. But he couldn't tell them. This was his personal problem. He was a teacher and these were students. He shouldn't and couldn't bother them with his own troubles.

Noel realized this and was about to tell them so when Josie spoke.

Josie had been watching the emotions battle inside her mentor and decided she needed to help them along. "You know you can tell us anything Z."

Professor Zachary flinched as though he'd been punched. Now it was worse. The same argument but now he _knew_ he would have their support.

Z mentally looked around for an escape and jumped for the first one he saw. "It's a bit warm in here, don't you think?" He walked around to the back to his desk and took off his outer jacket. He sat down in his chair and smiled unconvincingly at the group.

Josie stared. "Are you serious?" she demanded. He was trying to change the subject! Something had happened to give him this power, something he didn't want to tell them, and he was going to _change the subject?_

"Yeah," Lucas agreed, "it has to be around forty degrees in here. Geeze! Are you sick? It's really cold!" He added to this statement by rubbing his hands along his upper arms to warm them.

Professor Z stopped and stared at Lucas, uncertainty spreading across his face. "Are you serious?"

"That's what I just asked _you_!" Josie exclaimed, frustrated as Lucas nodded slowly confused at the question.

Z turned to Marshall and asked, "What about you, Marshall, is it cold in here?"

Marshall nodded in much the same way as Lucas.

Zachary turned to Corrine and repeated the question. When the answer was also repeated, he gave Josie a puzzled and slightly worried look. He didn't need to ask her, because she had already shaken her head no. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked from student to student.

Marshall finally broke through the silence. "Why don't we just…turn up the heat?"

Josie looked closely at Z. "Marshall, I don't think that's the problem." She addressed Professor Zachary, "It doesn't feel cold to you, does it?" She asked slowly.

Z shook his head while staring at an indiscriminant point behind them. His thoughts were a blur in his mind. He was the only one feeling the different temperature, was something wrong with him, or was it everyone else? His stomach dropped at the thought of one of his students getting hurt, especially the Science Club. _No, it has to be me. _Lucas's question brought him out of his daze.

"Z, are you feeling okay?"

Noel shook his head again, this time to clear it and looked to Lucas. "Yes! I feel fine." He paused. "Except for maybe being a little warm…"

Marshall looked closer at his science teacher. "You look a little pale," he said, then added, "and tired."

Z looked at him and tilted his head to one side then the other, thinking. "Well, I guess I am a little tired. A lot has been happening." He gestured around the room.

"I'll be right back," Corrine said suddenly and walked purposefully out the door.

Z small protests were ignored as the Science Club watched her leave. They fell into a comfortable silence. Marshall and Lucas started fooling around while Professor Z watched and tried to ignore Josie's stare.

Corrine walked back into the room a couple minutes later in time to hear Lucas yell, "Ouch! I'll get you for that!"

Josie was laughing and even Z was smiling. Corrine cleared her throat to get their attention.

Lucas glanced to her then jabbed a finger at Marshall. "You, me, foosball, later." He said with a grin.

"You're on!" Marshall replied with a mirror image grin.

Josie turned to Corrine. "So, where'd you go?"

"Nurse's office." She answered matter-of-factly, then, by way of explanation, added, "if Professor Z _is_ sick, we can't take him to the hospital, or anywhere else in his condition, so the first thing we have to do is determine whether he's sick or not."

The rest of the Science Club looked at one another and Lucas shrugged, it seemed like a logical place to start.

"What did you have in mind?" Z asked a little cautiously.

"Well, I think, being as you're warm while the rest of us are cold, you might have a fever or something." Corrine said walking farther into the room. She held out an oral thermometer to Professor Z, who reached out, across his desk to take it from her.

"Wait!" Josie said loudly.

Z and Corrine stopped in mid reach and looked at her, waiting.

Josie stared back, wondering how they didn't understand. "Come on, Corrine!" She waved a hand around the frozen office.

"Oh, right!" Corrine looked back to Z, who looked from his hands to the thermometer in Corrine's.

Corrine seemed uncomfortable about sticking anything in her teacher's mouth.

Z looked equally uncomfortable.

"Maybe if I just use the backs of my hands…" he suggested, half-heartedly.

Josie threw her hands up and said, "Oh, I'll do it!" She walked up to Corrine, snatched the thermometer and stuck it quickly and carefully into Z's mouth. He was so surprised, it almost fell back out, but he managed to hold it in place.

Josie came up beside him and watched the thermometer in a way that reminded Zachary of his mother.

His mother…Noel's heart plummeted, her surgery was today, in fact, he checked his watch, it had begun almost an hour before.

Josie gave a small shout of surprise and the thermometer beeped. She yanked it out of her teacher's mouth and stared at the read-out.

"Forty-six degrees." She read slowly.

"What?" yelped Z, "That's impossible!" he grabbed the thermometer, which was instantly ice covered and read zero.

Lucas walked forward and carefully took the thermometer from Z, "Professor Z, from the looks of this, I don't think you should be throwing around the 'I' word."

Professor Zachary slumped back in his chair looking and feeling exhausted.

"All right, now that we know what's wrong, we can start working to fix it." Corrine said clapping her hands together. "Lucas, Marshall," she said getting their attention then rolling her eyes when Lucas saluted, "you two go check the internet and see what you can find on low body temperature. Josie, you and I will go to the library. Z," she turned to him with a concerned look in her eyes, "you just stay here and try to rest, or at least relax."

"Right." Marshall slapped the icy desk with his palms, then winced and rubbed them together. He, Lucas, and Josie filed out, leaving Corrine to follow.

Corrine hesitated as she made her way to the door. "Professor Z, you have such a low temperature, you need to warm up." Noel nodded miserably.

Corrine turned up the thermostat as she went out.

Professor Z sat in the broiling heat for about five minutes until he couldn't stand it any longer. He stood up, went over to the wall and turned the temperature back down. Then, he went back and sat down at his desk, rested his head in his arms and tried to relax.

A/N: That's All for now! I'm going camping; I won't be back 'til Monday! Have a good weekend and READ AND REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ha ha! I'm back with another chapter! And a thanks to Tahra and Proops for reviewing chapter six. It's what keeps me going! Without father ado, Enjoy!

There were so many thought spinning around in his head, it was hard to relax. Professor Z tried to sort through them, but it was no use, they just kept popping up.

_I have an impossibly low temperature. By normal means, I should be dead, but…I'm not and I feel fine! I don't have any of the symptoms…_He paused, his brow furrowed, _Do I?_ He shook his head rapidly _No, I don't have any symptoms._

Noel stopped shaking his head feeling slightly dizzy. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.

Then, of course, his thoughts turned to his mother.

Noel's gaze slid to his desk drawer. He sighed, _here I am worrying about my problems when then odds are that my mother won't last through the day._

Professor Z's eyes widened, he couldn't think that. If he thought that, it let in the possibility that it might be true.

Z ran a hand through his hair and opened his drawer, freezing the front of it. He looked in and there sat his mother's note, and under it the doctor's letter. Noel started to reach for it, then stopped and grabbed two pencils from the cup on his desk. He used the ice-covered pencils as tongs to bring the note to rest on the desk in front of him.

Z stuck the pencils back into the cup and turned his attention to the note.

He reread it a couple times and went back to his childhood.

_His mother driving him to guitar lessons…going for ice cream on hot summer days…the look on his mother's face when he told her he was giving up guitar to join the science club…the tearful grins and embraces as he headed off to college…the phone calls to Blake Holsey just to see how he was doing…the note saying: I love you, and I always will…_

The tears had been welling up before, but they spilled out now. Professor Zachary took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with his shirt cuff.

He put his glasses back on, only to find that one of the tears had landed on the word _Mom_.

Zachary let out a choked, mirthless laugh and moved to brush it off. He paused above it, remembering just in time, but even the close proximity of his hand froze the water into white crystals that blocked out the word.

Noel was looking for something to wipe it off when he heard a knock at the door. He looked up in time to see Vaughn walk into the room.

Vaughn looked around in disbelief. Finally, he asked, "Uhh… Professor Z? What happened here?"

Professor Zachary really wasn't interested in explaining it again. "It's difficult to explain Vaughn. Why don't you head down to the library? Corrine and Josie are there, they can fill you in."

Vaughn paused and seemed to accept it. "All right, I'll go find them." He turned to leave, then turned back. "Oh, wait, Z? I'm sorry I missed Science Club the past couple days. I didn't mean to, it's just, with football season coming up…it's hard."

Z nodded, understandingly, "It's all right Vaughn, I know you're busy. As it so happens, no one else was at yesterday's meeting either. Corrine was tutoring students, Marshall had a performance and Josie and Lucas went to the mov…" Z stopped realizing what he'd said, and what it would mean to Vaughn, "…ies."

Vaughn stared at him. In his eyes, Noel could see disbelief, anger, confusion and hurt.

"I'm sorry Vaughn, I didn't think, I—,"

"No," Vaughn cut him off, "it's not your fault Josie didn't tell me." He turned quickly toward the door; and slipped on the ice.

He crashed to the floor and Z hurriedly got out of his chair to help him, "Vaughn! Are you okay?"

Vaughn grabbed Z's arm and pulled himself up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've taken worse falls during practice."

He took a step, but, still wobbly from his fall, slid again. He swung his arms out to catch his balance and Z grabbed one arm to help stable him.

"Whoa, Vaughn steady there." Z let go and watched Vaughn's feet to be sure he wouldn't slip again.

After a moment, in which Vaughn didn't move, Professor Z got a sick feeling in the pit of his gut. He forced himself to look at Vaughn's face.

It was unmoving. The expression was one of surprise, as he had been about to fall a second time.

Z was horrified. He brought his hands up and looked from them to Vaughn and back.

"I didn't…" he could hear the pleading tone in his voice.

At that moment, the door opened again. Josie and Corinne stepped in, laden with books of various sizes and colors.

"We found some books that might help…" Josie started, then trailed off as she looked up to find, Vaughn standing frozen with his arms outstretched and Z staring dismayed at his own hands.

"Z! What did you do?" Josie demanded, shocked, dropping the books to the floor and rushing over to stand in front of Vaughn.

Corrine set her pile of books o the counter and went to do the same to Josie's.

Josie meanwhile was waving her hand in front of Vaughn's face, while Z went over to his desk and sat down.

"It was an accident, "he said miserably, "he started to slip and I tried to help."

"You tried to _help_?" Josie demanded in the same tone, "Did you forget about all this?" She waved a hand around the room.

"Josie, calm down." Corrine went over to her.

"_No_, I will _not_ calm down Corrine! Are you seeing what he did?"

Z listened half-heartedly to their argument before noticing his mother's note. He inconspicuously brushed it into his drawer with the back of his right hand and shut it quietly.

"Professor Z," Corrine turned to him, "Can you tell us exactly what happened?"

"Yes." Z replied slightly relived to be sure of something. "Vaughn came in, he wanted to know what happened so I told him to see you two in the library. He started to leave, and then apologized for missing the Science Club meeting. I said it was okay and mentioned that no one else had been their either. I said you," He gestured to Corrine, "were tutoring students and Marshall had a performance and that you and Lucas…" He turned to Josie and hesitated, "…had gone to the movies."

"You told him? Why?" Josie demanded outraged.

Z flinched at the outburst and then shrugged, "It just slipped out."

Corrine broke through Josie's sputtered replies, "What happened after that?"

"Well," Z adjusted his glasses, "he turned to leave and slipped on the ice. I went to help him up. He took another step and slipped again. I caught his arm as he started to fall, and he…" Z trailed off.

"Froze." Corrine finished.

Z put his elbows on his desk and propped his head up with his hands.

_How could I have let this happen? All this time worrying about one of them being harmed by the wormhole, and it's me, in the end, that hurts them. I not only let this happen, it's my fault! I _made_ it happen. First Mom, now Vaughn, who's next?_

Corrine watched her science teacher with concern. Something was wrong. He helped them out with so many things and now, he was the one who needed help.

Suddenly, Corrine saw a flicker of something pass through Professor Z. "Josie?"

Josie stopped circling Vaughn and came up beside Corrine, "What?" she asked tartly.

Corrine didn't answer, she just looked closer at Z and then waved a hand in front of his face.

When he didn't move, Josie frowned in confusion. He couldn't freeze himself, could he?

Corrine gasped and took a step back.

"What is it?" Josie asked.

Corrine took a deep breath, turned to Josie and said slowly. "Josie, he's not breathing."

A/N: MUHAHAHAHAHA! How evil am I? You don't know the half of it, yet. However, you will in a second. I'm going to Yellowstone Park until the 17th, and I'm leaving tomorrow. You know what that means? No updates for ten full days! Review for more! I didn't think it was a very well written chapter but I hope I got the points across. Thank you, Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey! Back from Yellowstone, had a great time. I know I said I would update on the 17th and BELIEVE ME I tried. The site wouldn't upload the document for whatever reason. So sorry it's late, but please don't blame me. I hope it was worth the extra wait…Some of the science may be made up, just go with it, please. Thanks to Tahra, xXbittersweettearsXx and Proops for reviewing and an extra thanks to bittersweettears for mentioning the sequel. It's good to know you're interested and I think I'll put it up after this one is finished; we're getting there! If there is any more support for the sequel, LET ME KNOW! Thanks and on with the chapter.

_Last time on Strange Days at Blake Holsey High_: _Corrine took a deep breath, turned to Josie and said slowly. "Josie, he's not breathing."_

"What?" Three voices asked simultaneously. Marshall and Lucas had walked in the door just in time to hear Corrine's statement.

Corrine turned slightly to include the two. "Z isn't breathing, and I bet Vaughn isn't either."

Marshall and Lucas turned to Vaughn, then back to Corrine. "What happened?" Lucas asked incredulously.

Josie replied shortly, "Vaughn came into the office, Z told him that we went to the movies together, Vaughn started to leave, slipped and Z froze him, we came in, Z sat down and…froze himself or something."

Corrine started to correct a couple things, "It wasn't exactly like that…" She trailed off after receiving a glare from Josie.

"Okay, what do we do about the people who _aren't_ _breathing"_ Marshall asked.

Everyone turned to Corrine.

"Ummm… Check vitals, yeah, vitals." Corrine said quickly and carefully grabbed Z's wrist and pressed a thumb to the front of it. She waited a moment then said, "His pulse is fine, maybe a little slow, but it's even." She looked to Josie who'd been feeling her anger ebb away. It was hard to be mad at someone who wasn't breathing.

Josie's gaze switched form Corrine to Vaughn and she walked over to his frozen form. After a pause, Josie told the rest of the group, "She's right, he's not breathing either but his pulse is okay too."

"What do we do now?" Lucas asked and they turned to Corrine again.

"Does anyone know CPR?" She asked helplessly.

"Don't you?" Josie asked in disbelief. Corrine knew everything!

"My mom's a shrink and my dads a brain surgeon. I guess I missed the cardio pulmonary area!" Corrine burst out defensively. Then tried to calm down. After a moment she said, "All right, we need to get help."

"From who Corrine? Any one who comes in here is going to want to know what's going on! We have two… frozen people in an ice covered office with a wormhole in it!" Josie said, her arms punctuating her sentence.

"Maybe not." Lucas said from the other side of the room where'd he'd been looking at Vaughn.

Everyone turned to him confused.

"I mean you're right about the office and the wormhole, but I don't think they're exactly frozen." The other science club members gazed blankly back at him.

Lucas looked to the ceiling, then back to the group. "On Quest for Neptune they used cryonics to get to Neptune," he pause thinking, "Of course, they were all killed by aliens when they got there…Anyway, the crew set the ship on autopilot and went into cryonic pods. When they were in them, their body temperatures lowered and they survived the trip of, like, eighty years in a frozen state. It was a good movie really."

"Lucas! This isn't science fiction!" Josie said loudly, trying to get him to talk sense.

"Close enough." Marshall mumbled.

"I know! But cryonics isn't science fiction either, at least not completely. When some people die, they state in their wills that they want to be put in cryonic pods and they're frozen. The idea is that in the future, medicine will have progressed enough to revive the person in the pod. It's not possible yet, but it might be someday. If you look at Vaughn and Professor Z, they're not frozen like everything else; they're not covered in ice. I think something happened to lower Z's temperature to a cryonic state." He pointed to Vaughn as he walked over to the group. "I bet that's what happened to Vaughn too when Professor Z touched him."

"Lucas, that's brilliant!" Corrine said. _A lot better then the alternative anyway._ "So what do we do to bring them out of it?"

Lucas shrugged, "In the movie, the pod just warmed them up, but I don't think that will work here."

Josie had been listening to Lucas and thinking, "Z was hiding something from us. I think he was feeling bad about it too; maybe that's what started to lower his temperature in the first place."

"Right!" Marshall agreed getting into the conversation, "I bet there's something here that will tell us about what's got Z so down."

"Sounds good to me." Josie said and walked over to the counter and began looking around.

The group split up and looked in various places around the office.

Lucas was the first to wander over to Z's desk and start going through drawers. In less then a minute the rest of the science club heard him say, "Ah ha!" and they walked quickly over to him.

"Look at this!" He said triumphantly and held up the note from Z's mother. He began to read, a slight grin on his face. "_'My Dearest Noel, _

_I miss you terribly. I'm sorry to say it, but I don't have much hope that this will work out. Please don't come, I couldn't bear for you to see me this way, and I know you're needed at that school. Remember, I love you and I always will_.'" Lucas laughed and declared, "Z's broken up over a girl!"

Marshall looked over his shoulder to look at the note. "It looks like she broke up with him," he started, the frowned, "but then it looks like she feels bad and still likes him. Why would she break up with him in the first place then?"

"Maybe it's a long distance relationship, or maybe their parents don't approve or something." Lucas supplied.

"It's not even signed," Corrine noticed, "I wonder why?"

"I know who sent it," Josie said suddenly, looking at Z's form with a new sadness in her eyes.

Josie raised her eyes to their questioning gazes. "It was his mom."

"What?" Marshall and Lucas asked in confusion.

They looked to Corrine whose face showed shock. She'd realized more quickly then the boys that something was wrong.

Josie reached over, grabbed the note, looked at it a moment, then put a finger over a part of it and handed it back.

Lucas and Marshall looked where she'd had her finger, there; a slight wet splotch where the ice had melted into the paper was the blurred word 'Mom'.

Then Josie held up the doctor's letter and began reading aloud what she'd read silently a moment before.

"'Dear Prof. Zachary, I regretfully inform you that, during her last checkup, your mother, Miss Katharine Zachary, was found to have a malignant tumor near the occipital lobe of her brain. Surgery is to be as soon as possible but there is only a forty-five percent chance of successfully removing the cancer without it spreading. We will telephone you with the results as soon as we are able.' And it goes on…" Josie said heavily. She gestured to the note, "Read it again."

The boys looked down and read it to themselves. This time, however, there was no laughing or grinning. Their faces showed shocked sadness as they realized the magnitude to the note they were reading.

"Wow." Lucas managed to say when they finished.

"Yeah," Marshall agreed softly, "we sure had that one figured wrong."

"You think?" Josie asked rhetorically.

There was a pause while the science club stared at indiscriminate points and reflected with their own thoughts.

"Wow, Z, why didn't you tell us?" Lucas finally asked of no one in particular.

"I couldn't." A voice said from the desk.

The students turned to find Professor Z staring at them with watering eyes. He didn't give them a chance to speak before going on. "I'm a teacher and you're students, I can't let my personal problems affect you."

Josie looked around the office again, pausing slightly on Vaughn, before looking back to Z with a raised eyebrow, "You don't think this affected us?"

Z ran a hand distractedly through his hair. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"Professor Z, You didn't bring us into it!" Corrine stated, "We came in here because we were worried about you!"

Zachary paused, just realizing now that it was true. "Why were you worried about me?" He asked, confused.

"Because we all missed the meeting and then you didn't show up to teach classes." Marshall answered.

"But I'm just your teacher." Z said wonderingly.

"Z, you _are _our science teacher, but you're our _friend_. You can be both you know." Josie said softly.

Professor Z was silent for a moment…and in that moment, the phone on the counter began to ring.

A/N That's all for now, review for more!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey! I am so sorry! I had technical difficulties! I wanted to update sooner but my monitor died and I had to find another one! This is a short bit, but my brother's b-day is tomorrow, so I won't be updating then either. I'll try to get another chapter up by Tuesday. Thanks to bittersweettears, Tahra, and Proops for reviewing, it really does make my day. Without farther ado, the short but hopefully satisfying chapter!

Z started and looked to the phone, horror and hope mixed together on his face. The phone rang a second time as he sat there, oblivious to everything.

_I have to get it, _he said to himself and he started to get up. _But what if it's bad news? _Another part of his mind asked, _What if it's the worst? _Z's mind threatened to lock up at the mere thought of it.

The phone rang a third time and another thought rushed in. _ I can't _not _get it! It might be good news! It _will _be good news. What else would it be? _Zachary stood up and moved closer to the counter, the science club watching his every move.

Four rings. _It could be _bad_ news…But it _won't _be! _Noel thought fiercely.

Five rings. Z shrugged and plastered a half grin on his face. _I don't even know if it _is _the hospital. It could be something else. A prank call maybe._

Six rings. Z's legs moved him closer to the counter, but he was watching from far away. He saw his hand reach out and put the phone to his ear. Suddenly, his own voice jerked him back to reality.

"Hello?"

"Hello," A male voice said, "I'm calling for a, "Noel heard some papers rustling through the connection, "Professor Noel Zachary."

Z took a deep breath and answered, "This is he."

The man on the other end cleared his throat and began, "Professor Zachary, I'm calling in regards to your mother's surgery."

Z breath caught in his throat, there seemed to be a long pause between the end of the man's sentence and the beginning of the next, though it was hardly a second.

"I'm pleased inform you that it was a complete success."

Zachary's knees went weak with relief and he leaned against the counter for support. He answered, his voice notable lighter, "I can't tell you how happy that makes me, Mr.…?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man laughed good naturedly, "Dr. Baxter, brain surgeon. I operated on your mother. We're going to keep her here at the hospital for a week or so, just to make sure she recovers with no difficulties."

A grin was beginning to spread across Z's face. _My mom's all right! She's going to be okay! _"That's fine, do whatever you have to. Thank you again." Z hung up the phone and slid down the counter to the floor, unable to keep standing. _My mom is alive. _My mom is alive. _She's going to be _okay.

The science club gathered around him.

"Well?" Josie finally asked, not being able to stand the silence. "She made it right?"

Z looked up at her and grinned. "Yes." He said with barely contained enthusiasm, "She's going to be fine." His gaze switched to Corrine and his grin widened.

He hopped to his feet and addressed her. "Miss Baxter, what is it your dad does for a living?"

Corrine looked at him puzzled, _why didn't he call me Corrine?_ "He's a brain surgeon…" she said hesitantly, then stopped. "No way."

Z burst into laughter, picked a surprised Corrine slightly off her feet and spun her around once, then set her back on the floor.

"Yes, yes, yes! Your dad saved my mother's life!" He continued to laugh as he looked around the room with wide happy eyes.

The rest of the Science Club were watching and grinning at this excited, relieved Z they'd never seen before. Josie had laughed aloud when he picked Corrine up.

Z looked over at them for the first time in a few moments and his grin subsided a bit. "Yes, well, be sure to thank him for me." Z said slowly to a smiling Corrine, uncomfortably aware of his resent behavior. He stood there looking embarrassed for a moment as he straightened his jacket and avoided the eyes and grins of his students.

He finally looked up and caught Josie's gaze. She gave him a smile and said, "Remember Z, you're not _just _our teacher."

As if on cue, the science club came up and congratulated him as one.

A/N: That's it for now, like I said I'll update as soon as I can. Ha! Did you really think I could kill off his mom? Come on! Have you looked at my name? I am a FAN of Z. Sorry it's short, I just thought that this should be separate from the next bit. I'm getting to Vaughn in the next one, no he was not included in this chapter at all. And NO it's not over, there's more to be had from this story. Not a whole lot more, but more nonetheless. Plus the sequel, which has enough support to be started. Joy! Thanks again for reading, enjoying and reviewing!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Hello! This is going to end up being later then I wanted it up but I fell asleep in the middle of writing it sooo….it didn't get down until around 8:30. Don't get me wrong! It's not boring! At least I don't think so, I really got into it and it ended up being longer then I planned. I'm excited to hear what you guys think so be sure to drop me a line on this one! Thanks to Tahra, Proops and and AbbyTownsend for reviewing! I love to hear what you liked! All right! Here we go!

A few moments later, Josie was looking around the room when she stopped and called over her shoulder to the group, "Umm…guys? I hate to burst any bubbles, but Vaughn is still frozen."

They looked over to her in amazement, with everything that had been going on, they'd completely forgotten about him.

"Cryonically Preserved," Lucas corrected.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

Z pushed his glasses up and asked Lucas, "You know what's going on?"

"Yeah, when you touched him, his body temperature was lowered so far that he fell into a cryonic state."

"Cryogenics, fascinating," Professor Z said softly. After a moment, he focused and turned to the rest of the Science Club. He began counting off on his fingers. "All right, we know what caused the problem, we have identified it," Z paused. "So how do we solve it?"

Josie answered, "Well, when you were frozen, we knew you felt bad about something by the way you were acting. Lucas found the note and we realized that you were hiding it from us. Or trying to," She added.

"As soon as we found out what was wrong, you came around." Lucas finished.

"Yes, but what about when he froze himself in the first place?" Corrine asked. "It was right after he froze Vaughn; he had to be feeling bad about that too! It isn't just his mom that triggers it." She turned to Josie. "You were mad a Professor Z and he was sad about his mother and Vaughn."

"Okay," Marshall said slowly, "so Z felt bad about hiding something from us. Then he froze Vaughn and felt worse."

"But," Lucas broke in, "we know his mom is all right, and that Vaughn isn't…exactly… hurt…Why isn't Vaughn better?"

Josie turned to find a momentarily forgotten Z who had returned to his desk. "There's something else." She said with certainty.

Zachary looked at her with a sad smile, "I have to say, I'm impressed with the speed of your deduction. You all are very enthusiastic problem solvers."

Josie didn't move, but asked softly, "Z, why are you doing this? First you wouldn't tell us about your mom and now this? What is so bad that you won't tell us?"

Marshall spoke up, "We're behind you one hundred percent!"

Z let out a half-hearted grin. "I didn't want to concern you."

Josie burst out "_Concern_ us? This could be the only way to save Vaughn! What aren't you telling us?"

Still Z balked, "It's not important."

"But saving Vaughn is! Vaughn's important to me!" Josie stopped and scrambled to correct herself. "I—I mean important to us…his friends…You know what I mean." She turned to Lucas, "Right?"

Lucas bowed his head, "Yeah, I know what you meant." He turned and walked out of the room without another word.

"Lucas!" Josie called after him before the door cut her off.

After a pause, Marshall said, "I'll go talk to him." He started out the door.

"I'll go with," Corrine added, following him out, closing the door as she went.

Josie turned back to Professor Z, determination evident on her face.

Z sighed, Josie didn't have to voice the question written all over her face. "I told you, it's not important."

"And I told _you_ it _has_ to be! Don't you trust us? Trust me?" Josie asked softly.

Zachary ran a hand through his hair. "Of course I trust you. I just don't want to give _you _a reason not to trust _me_."

"What?" Josie asked disbelieving.

Z took a deep breath; it had to come out now. "I haven't been entirely honest with you guys. As soon as I was involved in this," he gestured helplessly around the room, referring to the wormhole, "I should've told you."

"Told us what?" Josie asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted the answer.

Z paused, unsure of how to start. "Well…you know the picture of me at Pearadyne?"

"Yes," Josie replied slowly, "you said you worked there for a summer, for the scholarship. You just answered phones."

"At first." Z continued, not looking at Josie. " When I worked there I heard snatches of conversations in the hallway, joined in discussions during lunch break, contributed some of my ideas and before I knew it, Mr. Pearson promoted me. I was one of the top researchers at Pearadyne."

Z grinned mirthlessly, "I wasn't well liked among the senior employees, but Victor insisted. My colleges included Sarah Pearson and Kelly Trent."

"You worked with my mom?" Two voices asked incredulously.

Z started and looked up to find Vaughn staring uncertain at him. He glanced at Josie whose face showed disbelief, anger and hurt.

"Yes, I worked with both your mothers, and Victor. It was the job of my dreams. Ground-breaking discoveries, recognition…a monthly paycheck. It was great…until…" Z trailed off.

"The explosion," Josie filled in.

Z nodded silently, then continued. "Victor and Sarah had their hearts set on that test. It started out all right, then three rings spinning in perfect time with one another, their motion calculated to the second, the ball literally glowing with power.

I stood by and watched through a window on the same floor, keeping one eye on the monitors."

Z frowned in remembrance. "Suddenly, there was a flash and one of the monitors showed a flux in the power. I think that's what caused the explosion. That one flux. The power rushed to correct it and threw the entire test off balance. It should've been aborted there, but for some reason they continued it."

Z went on, but he was lost in the memory, not noticing the two students in front of him. "I remember looking through the window as the rings spun faster then they were made to and, for a moment, I thought I saw a young, dark haired girl out on the platform with the lab technician."

"Corrine," Josie said softly. "She was the flux."

Z nodded slowly, "For a long while I was busy trying to correct the monitors and find out what needed to be done. Suddenly, there was another flash, another flux in the power."

"Me."

"Yes, I only caught a fleeting glimpse of red hair before some one tried to make me leave," Z's eyebrows furrowed, "I wouldn't go. I couldn't leave that marvelous, scientific palace I had started my life on. I worked harder, trying to solve what couldn't be solved.

Just when I was ready to give up, there was another flux. I looked through the window, trying to catch sight of the thing that had ruined my exciting start in the scientific field." Z grinned at the irony.

"That was you, wasn't it." Josie asked.

"Yes, it was my counterpart from this time, come to save you and Corrine."

"That's why you could open the door!" Josie cried in sudden realization, "You remembered the code!"

"I remembered, but I was lucky to, it had been fifteen years after all." Z continued with his recollection. "I saw a man in a suit, but he didn't turn around, he just rushed to the door and opened it."

Z shrugged. "That's when I was pulled away by Dr. Trent. She had gone around to make sure everyone got out. I was one of the last. I was outside with the rest of the employees when Pearadyne blew.

It was a horribly sad day. Victor was a complete wreck with out Sarah and I left in search of another job, Pearadyne still heavy on my mind. It wasn't until Victor called and offered me a job here, that I felt better.

Then, on my first day, we all get into this and everything became clear. I can't tell you how often I've stayed up late into the night, wondering about the what-ifs and the if-onlys."

Z sighed and silent for a moment before continuing suddenly. "After a couple months here, I realized Pearadyne was going to play a large part in the mystery. I debated whether to tell you kids or not, but when you found the picture Josie, I was forced to make a quick decision. One I've regretted."

The three stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I still can't believe you knew my mom and dad." Vaughn said suddenly, "and you never told us."

"And you knew about the Qui ball being Victor's power source." Josie added, "_And_ how the explosion happened."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Z walked around the desk and extended his hand toward Josie. "Forgive me?" he asked hesitantly.

She thought for a moment then grinned. "Of course." Josie grabbed his hand in a firm shake, then pulled him into a short hug.

Z paused for a moment afterward and his eyes widened. "My hand! You didn't freeze! I didn't even think—! You're all right?"

Josie laughed, "Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't you realize? You picked up Corrine, I thought you knew!"

Z laughed with her, "I do now!"

Vaughn broke in, "Shouldn't we tell Lucas, Marshall and Corrine?"

Z frowned at the thought of relaying the entire story again, and Josie jumped in. "We'll tell them. Come on Vaughn." She dragged him through the door with a last look at Professor Z.

Professor Noel Zachary looked around the room and laughed at the lines of water running down the walls and his desk. He walked over to the thermostat on the wall and clicked it up to seventy. Then he went to his desk, sat down and smiled.

A/N: Ha! Phew, long chapter. For me anyway, I've been tired all day for some odd reason.

I really hope you liked this one. If anyone would choose a time to review, this would be it. I'd like to know what you thought of my Pearadyne accident especially. So this is a note to all you lurkers out there: I love you, but review this one at least. If you don't review any more, it won't matter, but at least review this one.

This story is winding down, I think only one more chapter and an epilogue. I'll review when I can, but don't wait up, it might be a few days. Thanks again for Reading,Enjoying and Reviewing!


	11. Chapter 11

Wow. I am SO sorry I haven't updated! I was going good after I finished that last chapter and then I suddenly ran full tilt into a very solid wall of writer's block. I've spent the last week and a half trying to find a way around it. I discovered that I couldn't go over it, I couldn't go under it, I couldn't go through it, so I had to go around it. :D Please excuse that random sentence, but anyway, I'm back with the last chapter, I repeat _chapter_ I still have the epilogue to go, but then, -shrug- that's it for Frozen. Thanks for all your support on it, an extra thanks to Tahra, bittersweettears, poplarindian4, Proops, and Rebka for reviewing Chapter 10, I really appreciate it. On with the chapter.

The Science Club sat in the Lab going over everything they'd learned about Professor Z, while he sat to the side quietly awaiting their judgment.

After a few minutes, Lucas looked to Z and said, "I still can't believe you worked for Victor Pearson and you _lied_ to us about it."

Z winced, "I know, I'm really very sorry about that, it was a mistake. I meant to tell you, I—I just wasn't myself that day." He let out a half grin, "I was still getting my memory back if you recall."

There was a pause as the group remembered that particular escapade, then they laughed as a whole. This served to lighten spirits a bit, as Lucas continued.

"Well, I guess you do have that excuse. I for one have decided to forgive you. I don't know how we'd manage without you Z."

Marshall nodded his head in agreement. "Me too. Can't stay mad at you."

Vaughn added, "I'm glad you're feeling better, it kind of threw the whole Club off when you weren't."

"Yeah, everything's back to normal now." Josie noted, "You're all right, Vaughn's safely…thawed, and," She shrugged, "there's no more problems."

"Miss Trent, Mr. Randall, I'm sure you both have a very interesting explanation as to _why _you were not in detention yesterday evening." Principal Durst stood in the doorway, giving the group a critical look.

Lucas's face blanked for a moment, then realization spread across his face. "Uh, actually, we…just…forgot." He tried an apologetic grin, but it faded as Principal Durst continued.

"Well, I'm here to make sure you don't _forget_ again. A week's detention both of you. Come along." She waited a moment as they stared at her. "_Now_." She started out into the hallway as Josie and Lucas slowly followed looks of disgust on their faces.

Z chuckled slightly and shook his head while Marshall suppressed a laugh.

Vaughn glanced at his watch and said, "I hate to leave guys, but I have another practice. You're all coming to the game this weekend right?"

They assured him they were, and as he went out the door, Marshall called after him, "Go Owls!"

They chatted for a while longer before Marshall left to finish up his Magnet 360 posters and Corrine headed for the library to study.

Professor Z glanced around the empty lab, glad that everything was back to normal, or as normal as Blake Holsey could get.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Josie sat next to Lucas in detention, under the not-so watchful eye of Ms. Dubin.

After she was considerably absorbed in her correcting, Josie turned slightly to Lucas and said under her breath, "I'm sorry about what I said before, I didn't mean it." There was a slight pause before she felt the urge to correct herself. "Well, I _did_ mean it, but I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"If you like Vaughn, just say so. I don't want your pity." Lucas mumbled back without looking at her.

"It wasn't pity!" Josie said a little loudly. She was silent for a moment, waiting for Ms. Dubin's reprimand. When it didn't come, she continued, "I really did have fun at the movies with you Lucas. But I still like Vaughn. Back there, what I said, he was in trouble, I was worried about him. I didn't want him to get hurt, just like I don't want to hurt you." She waited to hear what he would say.

After a few moments, Lucas replied a little bitterly, "Well, it's very comforting to know you don't want to hurt me." He sighed and said tiredly, "I like you Josie. I know Vaughn likes you, I know _you _like Vaughn. It's hard to vie for your attention and I don't like doing it."

There was another pause as Josie absorbed this. Lucas continued even softer then before. "I just don't want you to forget me. If you go off with Vaughn…I don't know. I'll still be right here. Marshall has Corrine, you like Vaughn… I'm just…me. Sometimes it's hard."

Josie was silent, and the minutes ticked by. After a while, Ms. Dubin stood up and announced that time was up for the day.

Lucas grabbed his books and headed for the door, Josie in hot pursuit.

"Lucas, wait!" Josie called to him.

Lucas slowed then stopped without turning. Josie caught up to him and stopped. "Lucas listen. You're a great friend. I can trust you; I can come to you for help. You're right, I do like Vaughn," She ignored his slight flinch and continued, "but that doesn't mean I'll forget you. Vaughn's a good guy, I can trust him too, but I know I can always come to you when the jock talk starts getting to me." She grinned and Lucas looked up.

He looked at her a moment then shrugged and let out a small, sad smile, "I'll be here."

They walked to the staircase in silence then parted ways.

A/N: Well, there you go. Last chapter. I know I know, not much for all the wait, but it's better then the nothing you had been getting right? Right? … Anyway, I was going to put in a bit about the football game, but it was just kind of a filler, and I liked the ending on this bit. If anyone is curious, The Owls won! Woo! Well, of course they won, poor Vaughn with all the extra practice, it would've been really disappointing if they lost. :D Anyway, only the Epilogue to go. I hope I do it justice to the idea in my head…phew, pressures on. :D I'll update when I can, (shorter then a week's time! I promise!) Read, Review and Enjoy!


	12. Epilogue

A/N: Sorry, it's a little later then I wanted, I had to double check some things. Here we are at last. Last bit of Frozen. An epilogue and it's over. I must say I'm in no hurry; I don't enjoy finishing it. Thankfully, a sequel is in the works. No promises on when it'll be up but it _will_ be up at some point in the hopefully near future. Enjoy.

A week passed.

The Science Club sat outside in the courtyard, enjoying the warm weather. Corrine and Josie sat at a table across from each other, Vaughn and Marshall sat across from each other accordingly and Lucas sat next to Marshall. Z preferred to stand, leaning against the building near the table.

Technically, they were supposed to be discussing recent weather patterns, but the topic had faded out.

Professor Z had also slid out of the conversation. He leaned more fully against the wall and closed his eyes, enjoying the cooling breeze across his face. He'd talked to his mother everyday for the past week on the phone. She was still set against him visiting, but mentioned that she was feeling better and the doctors said it shouldn't be too much longer before they let her out.

Zachary opened his eyes and smiled at the students before him. Josie was laughing at something Marshall had just said and Lucas was looking at her with a slight smile on his face. Z sighed, neither Lucas nor Josie had said anything, but the group knew something had passed between them.

Josie was more carefree and openly together with Vaughn. Lucas was a little quieter, but even he acted as though something had been lifted from his shoulders. Z observed that everyone in the Club was less tense. It seemed that everyone had known about the conflict subconsciously and it had affected them, though they hadn't always noticed.

"…what do you think Professor Z?" Corrine's question pulled him back to reality. Z realized that he hadn't been listening to the conversation at all.

"W—what? I'm sorry, I was…thinking."

The kids before him laughed. "Of course you were," Josie grinned, "do you ever do anything else?"

Before Z could respond, Principal Durst came up to him with an uncharacteristic smile on her face. "There you are Professor Zachary. I've been looking for you. There's someone here to see you."

The Science Club looked to him as a whole and Z shrugged. When he turned back to the door, however, a disbelieving expression filled his face.

The woman standing in the doorway was a few inches shorter then him, but years older. A blue summer hat covered most of her short gray hair. She had crinkles near her eyes that hinted at laughter and a smile lit her face. She was dressed in a simple black skirt and light blue shirt.

"Mom?" Z asked incredulously.

Katie laughed. "Is that how you greet your mother? No hugs?" She opened her arms invitingly and Noel quickly crossed the distance between them.

They stayed together for a solid minute and when they finally broke apart, both had wide smiles and wet cheeks.

"Well," Katie said with a small laugh, "it's good to see you honey, I missed you." She delicately brushed a tear from her eye.

"I missed you too Mom." Professor Z said doing the same and removing his glasses to clean them on his shirttail. His tone changed to mock scolding. "Now, what are you doing here? The doctors said it would be another few days at least, before you were released." He replaced his glasses and looked at her expectantly.

She laughed, "Yes, well, what do they know? I felt fine and," she shrugged and said with a smile, "they let me out on good behavior."

"So you're sure you're feeling better? No headaches or anything similar?" Z looked at her concerned.

"Hey, who's the mother here? I'm fine, really. They got my head screwed on right." She tapped one side of her head. "Though I have some bandages and a beautiful bald spot to show for my troubles, thus the hat."

Zachary smiled, _it's a small price to pay_, and then remembered the Science Club. He turned to find them still sitting there, seemingly in a conversation, but he could see some glances shot in their direction and the grins on their faces.

He led his mother over to the group. "Here they are. The Science Club." He smile as the kids looked up. He pointed to Josie, "This is—"

"Wait!" Katie interrupted him. "Let me guess." She ran her eyes over Josie taking in the stature, the red hair and the skateboard on the ground next to her. "This must be Josie."

Josie nodded and Katie went on to Corrine. Doing the same, she noted the neat notebook and pristine uniform. "Corrine."

Corrine smiled and Katie next saw Marshall and the Magnet 360 poster he'd brought out to show the group. "Marshall."

He nodded and she switched her gaze Vaughn. She took in his height and build. "Vaughn."

He also nodded and she moved on to Lucas. She noted his glasses, his scraggly brown hair and the book under his arm with a large picture of a spaceship on it. "You must be Lucas then."

He smiled and nodded as well.

After being introduced, they all visited together for a while. The students found Katie, as she insisted on being called, a very easygoing person and subtly uncovered similarities between Z and his mother. They both had the same smile and laugh. When the conversations slowly died down everyone was comfortable in the silence.

"Well, it's good to know Noel has found friends among his students." Katie smiled. "I'm not sure I could've shared my life as openly as he apparently has."

The Science Club shared a look and a grin. Z ducked his head guiltily.

Katie looked around. "What?" She asked curiously.

"Actually, we had to find out for ourselves what was wrong…" Lucas explained slowly.

"Not that it was hard. He didn't hide it very well." Josie grinned and Z looked reprovingly at her before letting out a half smile.

Katie laughed and clap her hands. "Noel never was very good at keeping secrets. I could never trust him not to give away surprise birthday parties."

Another glance was shared.

"He's better at keeping secrets then you think." Marshall said.

The table went silent, but it wasn't as comfortable as the one before had been. Katie noticed and sighed, standing up. "Well, I should probably check into the hotel." She smiled, "It's been wonderful to meet you all. Now I know why Noel speaks so highly of you."

They all agreed and thanked her for visiting. Professor Z walked her to her car and then headed back to the table. The Science Club waited for him. The conversation didn't revive and after a few minutes, they disbanded and said they'd all be at the next days meeting.

Noel slowly walked toward his office with mixed emotions. He walked in to find the Janitor at work in the many puddles of water.

"Feeling better?" He asked without looking up.

"Yes, very." Z said slowly.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Professor Zachary paused. "I am…my mother's better. I'm more open with the Science Club…they're taking the information well…."

"Are they?"

"They seem to be…well, they're a little confused I think….it's a lot of important information…" Z trailed off and sighed. "I don't know. I'm hoping they forgive me for lying. They all said they did…"

"All of them?"

"Yes! But if they really do or not, I'm not positive. They don't talk to me as much…Well, they do, but…it's hard to explain, they don't seem to trust me like they did…"

The Janitor was silent and Z more or less forgot about him as he explored farther into what he was feeling.

"I think they might be worried about me keeping more secrets…I'm not though! I have nothing else to tell!"

"Maybe you should tell them so."

Z paused. "…You're right. If I confront them and tell them that I have nothing more to tell them…" Z shook his head slightly. "If I explain that I'm not hiding anything else. They'll know they can trust me, _and_ we'll be closer. We sure need it. Figuring out what's happening here is going to take friendship and if we don't have that…" Z shrugged.

"There _is_ always good in a situation. Maybe this is it."

The Janitor picked up his mop and walked out the door without another word.

Z watched as he left then sighed again and sat down at his chair.

As he corrected papers, he failed to notice the potted plant that sat in the windowsill. The frosted ivy plant was standing as cold and silent as ever.

A/N Here it is the ending of Frozen. Thank you all for your support I appreciated it constantly. A special thanks to all who reviewed: 2HPCousins, Proops, Rebka, Kelly, araym, Toreshi-san, Tahra, BHHfanatic, xXbittersweettearsXx, AbbyTownsend, poplarindian4, smob1487, and Haley.

I hope this is a satisfactory ending for Frozen, but enough foreshadowing for the sequel. Once again, I can't say when it'll be up, but don't hold your breath, I might take a brake and just read some of the many brilliant other BHH fanfics.

: D : P ; )

Thanks again for reading, and enjoying and reviewing! No applause necessary.

-bows- : D


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